Qualifying report

F1 Bahrain GP: Piastri takes pole, Norris and Verstappen out of top 5

McLaren underlined favourite status with pole for Oscar Piastri at Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix, while Lando Norris and Max Verstappen suffered a subdued qualifying session

Oscar Piastri beat George Russell to pole position in Bahrain, with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen down in sixth and seventh.

Piastri looked the quicker of the two McLaren cars from Q2, and he then cemented his pole on the deciding run on a rapidly improving Sakhir track.

Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari ahead of the second Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, with Pierre Gasly taking a stunning fifth place on the grid for Alpine.

Norris looked set to challenge Piastri and Russell for the front row, but a relatively poor final lap left him down in sixth. McLaren's main challenger Red Bull suffered a disappointing qualifying session with Verstappen down in seventh.

Q1: Red Bulls under pressure

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson - Getty Images

Red Bull was under pressure from the start of qualifying as Verstappen went off the track on the final corner of his flyer, while team-mate Tsunoda also lost his lap for track limits. Verstappen reported "there's something really wrong with the car" but still managed to go through in third, two tenths behind session leader Norris, while Tsunoda also advanced.

Surprisingly, Alex Albon was out of Q1 for the first time this year, taking 16th in the Williams, as was Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson, who suffered a DRS issue. They were joined in the drop zone by Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll and Haas' Oliver Bearman, who lost a shot at Q2 with a poor second sector, reporting problems with locking the front tyres.

Q2: Red flag after Ocon suffers crash

Q2 was quickly red-flagged for a crash by Haas driver Esteban Ocon coming out of Turn 2. Starting his flying lap, the Frenchman already started suffering oversteer coming out of the corner, and then lost control as soon as his unsettled car crossed the exit kerbs, spinning into the left-hand side wall. Ocon reported he was okay, with the session resuming after an eight-minute delay.

Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team crash car

Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Motorsport Images

After the interruption McLaren wasted no time going first, this time Piastri leading Norris by a tenth. Alpine once again proved the surprise package with Gasly taking third ahead of both Mercedes cars. His team-mate Doohan looked set to join him in Q3, but a weaker final sector left the Australian in 11th.

Behind Doohan, Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar was knocked out in 12th, with Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso also eliminated, the latter slower on his compromised Q2 lap than he had been in Q1. The second qualifying phase again delivered an ominous warning for the Red Bulls, with Verstappen and Tsunoda scraping through in ninth and 10th.

Q3: Norris, Verstappen trip up

Verstappen also had a poor first lap in Q3 due to what he described as brake issues, while Piastri led early doors with a 1m30.233s, a tenth ahead of Russell and Norris. The trio was a second clear of the rest, led by Ferrari's Leclerc and Hamilton.

Antonelli and then Russell cycled through to take provisional pole on the final run, before Piastri restored McLaren's advantage with his second career pole position.

Bahrain GP qualifying results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	6	1'29.841		S	216.863
2	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	6	+0.168 1'30.009	0.168	S	216.458
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	6	+0.334 1'30.175	0.166	S	216.059
4	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	6	+0.372 1'30.213	0.038	S	215.968
5	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Renault	6	+0.375 1'30.216	0.003	S	215.961
6	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	6	+0.426 1'30.267	0.051	S	215.839
7	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	6	+0.582 1'30.423	0.156	S	215.467
8	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	6	+0.839 1'30.680	0.257	S	214.856
9	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	6	+0.931 1'30.772	0.092	S	214.638
10	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22	Red Bull	Red Bull	6	+1.462 1'31.303	0.531	S	213.390
View full results